Calvin Klein Collection Womenswear A/W12

Fashion and politics collided as Francisco Costa closed New York Fashion Week

Hours before the show, an email went out to the seated guests for the Calvin Klein collection show informing us that security measures had been heightened as an Occupy Wall Street demonstration was scheduled to be held outside the venue. The email did not disappoint, as (four) protestors strolled the lines outside exclaiming about models' rights and the ethical dangers of the 1%. There were murmurings that OWS members had arranged inside informants to stand up during the show, red paint around their eyes as if they'd been maced by the police. No such event occurred and Francisco Costa was able to show a dark and textural collection inspired by the West Coast 99%.

I saw an amazing show in L.A. called 'Under The Big Black Sun'. It was very puzzling because it was about art and the subculture in L.A, which is punkish but in a very West Coast way. It felt very relevant and there was a 1980's vibe to it, which is when I had just arrived in New York

"I saw an amazing show in L.A. called 'Under The Big Black Sun'. It was very puzzling because it was about art and the subculture in L.A, which is punkish but in a very West Coast way," said Costa after the show. "It felt very relevant and there was a 1980's vibe to it, which is when I had just arrived in New York. There's a street vibe, this urbanness again and everything felt right."

One of the most magnetic things about fashion is its role in social anthropology, a creative outlet for ideas that will ripple outwards, affecting and reflecting back the world around us. It's as much economics and politics as it is artistic expression. Occupy Wall Street is a movement that doesn't aim towards violent resolution but to begin a dialogue, to be a talking point that sparks a conversation that changes the way we think. These two worlds meeting couldn't be a better note on which to end the week in New York.